UNIVERSITY PARK — At this time a year ago, Baker Mayfield was getting ready to lead Lake Travis against Judson in the first game of his senior season.

Meanwhile, with a scheduled opener postponed because of Hurricane Isaac, new Texas A&M coordinator Kliff Kingsbury was preparing a largely unknown quarterback named Johnny Manziel to fill the shoes of Ryan Tannehill.

The world, it seems, has changed several times since then. As a result, Kingsbury — barely a decade removed from quarterbacking Texas Tech — made his debut as the school’s head coach while Mayfield became the first true freshman quarterback to start for the Red Raiders.

It was a highly successful start for both Mayfield and Kingsbury on Friday night, resulting in a 41-23 Tech victory over SMU at Ford Stadium.

Sophomore Michael Brewer was expected to replace the departed Seth Doege, but Brewer’s recurring back problems forced Kingsbury to go with the untested Mayfield.

What a way to go.

Mayfield completed 43 of 60 passes for 413 yards and four touchdowns. He ran for a fifth. He set a school record for completions in a debut. And, yes, he had better numbers against the Mustangs than Manziel posted here in his second start of a Heisman campaign.

Mayfield was the quarterback who played with poise throughout. That’s staggering considering that Mayfield was a ninth-grader when SMU’s Garrett Gilbert was playing Alabama for the national championship as Colt McCoy’s replacement at Texas.

“He had practiced like a senior for the last week,” Kingsbury said. “I’m just happy he played as well as I thought he would.”

It took 29 minutes for either team to register a touchdown — a far cry from the shootout that a sellout crowd might have anticipated. But Mayfield drilled a perfect slant pass to Jordan Davis that allowed Tech to break a 6-6 tie just before halftime.

Midway through the third quarter, it all started to click for Mayfield as he moved Tech quickly down the field for a 20-9 lead. There was really no stopping the Red Raiders’ offense after that.

And that may mean there’s no stopping the expectations for Kingsbury moving forward.

Head coaches exist on very short leashes these days, although Kingsbury’s will be longer than most. For one, Tech fans weren’t all that thrilled with the demeanor and the game management (not to mention the results) of Tommy Tuberville, even before he stunned them in December by bolting for the University of Cincinnati.

Kingsbury was an immensely popular replacement, not only because of what he achieved while playing for Spike Dykes and Mike Leach, but because the offenses he had been involved with at Houston and Texas A&M were of such an explosive nature that Tech fans had to get excited once again.

On this particular night, Kingsbury wisely played it conservative early or he was at least cautious with the throws Mayfield was making. As the game went along, Mayfield looked more self-assured, and he began to throw downfield more often. It helped that tight end Jace Amaro — at 6-5, 260, a different kind of target — became available after halftime.

A preseason All-Big 12 pick, Amaro was suspended for the first half (does that punishment sound familiar?) for throwing a punch in last year’s bowl victory over

Minnesota. In the third quarter, he caught three passes for 42 yards on Tech’s 80-yard touchdown drive.

By the fourth quarter, Mayfield was fully in charge, and he had help from receivers who produced huge run-after-catch numbers against a fatigued and overmatched SMU defense.

But mostly, this was a case of Kingsbury putting a quarterback and an offense on the field for Tech that looked at least like a facsimile of the unit (and, yes, the special player) he led at Texas A&M.

Baker Mayfield is a long way from becoming Baker Football, and perhaps this long off-season has taught us the dangers of saddling any college kid with that nickname.

Taking a break from hyperbole, let’s just say Kliff has Texas Tech headed down the right track.

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About Tim Cowlishaw

Tim Cowlishaw has been The Dallas Morning News' lead sports columnist since July 1998. Prior to that he covered the Cowboys for six seasons and the Stars for three as a beat reporter. He also covered the Rangers as a backup beat writer and was the San Jose Mercury News' beat writer on the San Francisco Giants in the late 1980s.

Tim has been appearing regularly on ESPN"s "Around the Horn" since the show made its debut in November 2002. He also worked with ESPN as part of the network's "NASCAR Now" coverage in 2007-08.

Favorite Dallas restaurants: Park, Nick and Sam's, Kenichi.

Worst sports prediction: His first in college ... that Earl Campbell had no shot at the Heisman Trophy.

Best sports memories: Seeing the Dallas Stars hoist the Stanley Cup long after midnight in Buffalo, watching the Dallas Cowboys win the Super Bowl and Texas win the national title in perfect Rose Bowl settings.